What they’re saying after NC State’s loss to ECU in Military Bowl

NC State entered the Military Bowl looking to snap its four straight bowl loss streak against in-state foe East Carolina. But instead of completing another fourth-quarter comeback, the Wolfpack lost 26-21 after the Pirates won on an 86-yard rushing touchdown with 1:33 to play. 

Here is what those who covered the game are saying about the Pack’s loss to the Pirates.

Ethan McDowell, The Wolfpacker — Column: Welcome to NC State’s most important offseason in years

NC State football’s season ended with a 26-21 loss to East Carolina in the Military Bowl. The Pack battled to reach bowl eligibility with a gutsy win over UNC and erased a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to fall just short against the Pirates.

After starting the season with ACC title hopes, a 6-7 record remains far from the heights the program hoped to reach this year. In fact, the Pack descended to a new low Saturday night, ending its season swinging in a literal sense. NC State fought with East Carolina in the final minutes of an already decided contest. 

“I’m embarrassed as a coach, and I know our players are too,” head coach Dave Doeren said when discussing the brawl. 

Eight total ejections, 473 Pirate yards and a critical fourth-quarter turnover wrapped up the legacy of the 2024 season. This year will be seen as the first step. Now, it’s just a question of what direction the Wolfpack program takes. 

Noah Fleischman, The Wolfpacker — NC State’s late-game struggles reappear in Military Bowl loss to ECU

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — You didn’t have to see the field to know how the game was going for NC State. Instead, the noises that emitted from the Wolfpack’s coaches box on the press level of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium told the story of the Military Bowl fourth quarter.

Clapping erupted out of the small room to the right of the main working space after senior safety Bishop Fitzgerald logged a tackle for a loss to force East Carolina’s first punt of the game. Hollering, including excited expletives, rang out when the Wolfpack ran a double reverse that ended with a 33-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman running back Hollywood Smothers midway through the period  — the go-ahead score and NC State’s first lead of the night. 

And when ECU, which had 3rd-and-10 from its own 14, broke off an 86-yard touchdown run on the legs of running back Rahjai Harris? A loud thud, likely from banging the blue wooden tabletop against the glass, sounded. 

That dash, which came with 1:33 to play, was the nail in the coffin for NC State. The Pack dropped its fifth straight bowl game in a 26-21 loss to ECU on Saturday evening. 

“We just didn’t finish,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said afterwards. “We had two drives offensively where we could have ran the clock out and didn’t. Defensively, had them 3rd-and-10 and gave up the [86-] yard touchdown run. We had chances to win that football game and didn’t get it done.”

NC State’s loss to ECU, the first since the Pirates won 33-30 in 2016, marked the Wolfpack’s fourth one-possession defeat of the season. The Pack, which seemed to figure out how to close games with its victory at North Carolina, struggled to do so against the Pirates. 

Jadyn Watson-Fisher, News & Observer — Now what? NC State football faces offseason reckoning, needs growth from young players

CJ Bailey sat in the postgame interview room, his head held low. Coach Dave Doeren’s eyes and face were rimmed, showing hints of potential tears. It was the most disappointed and least energetic the duo, especially Bailey, had been in a news conference all year. 

N.C. State’s 26-21 loss to ECU in the Military Bowl — with a brawl taking place in the final seconds — seemed like a microcosm of the season. The team played complementary football in spurts but not long enough to stave off the Pirates. The offense played well but didn’t capitalize. Its defense couldn’t pick up stops consistently and gave up far too many explosive plays. Bailey threw an interception on what could’ve been a drive that ate clock. Key players were unavailable.

And they capped things off with a bench-clearing fight.

The Wolfpack had opportunities, but it wasted those chances. N.C. State finished the regular season with three one-possession losses to Wake Forest (34-30), Syracuse (24-17) and Georgia Tech (30-29). It lost to Duke, 29-19. 

“I mean, down to the last minute and a half, gut-wrenching,” Doeren said. “It’s hard when you lose a game like that.”

Noah Teague, Technician — East Carolina torches NC State football on the ground in Military Bowl upset

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — With Wolfpack fans roaring in the stands and the Pirate offense backed up at its own 14-yard line with less than two minutes to go, it seemed as if NC State football would finally end its seven-year bowl victory drought. Then the tides turned in an instant as East Carolina’s Rahjai Harris burst into the open field for an 86-yard touchdown and a 26-21 lead.

Despite the initial shock, NC State still had a chance to go and win the game with a minute and 27 seconds left. Did the Pirates leave too much time for freshman quarterback CJ Bailey to steal the game?

With excellent field position and two consecutive completions to start the drive, it looked as if the red-and-white would retake the lead. That was until Bailey tossed an interception the next play that ended any hopes for the Wolfpack. East Carolina walked away with a 26-21 win in the Military Bowl and NC State closed its season with a losing record — its first losing season since 2019 — and a far cry from the team’s lofty preseason expectations.

The Wolfpack’s (6-7) last two drives encapsulated NC State’s entire 2024 season — initially promising but ending in disaster.

Noah Trister, Associated Press — Harris’ big run gives ECU 26-21 win over NC State. Then brawl breaks out near end of Military Bowl

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Rahjai Harris broke free for an 86-yard touchdown run with 1:33 remaining, giving East Carolina a pulsating 26-21 victory over NC State in the Military Bowl in a game that descended into a wild brawl in the final minute.

Harris had 220 of ECU’s 326 yards rushing, and his sensational sprint near the end of the game gave the Pirates (8-5) the lead back after they’d blown a 13-point advantage in the fourth. After an interception by Dontavius Nash ended NC State’s final drive, East Carolina’s attempt to run out the clock was interrupted by a large-scale fight between the two in-state rivals — who play each other again to start next season.

Three players for ECU and five for NC State were ejected.

ECU (8-5) trailed 21-20 and took over the ball at its own 14, and after two incompletions, the Pirates decided to run the ball with Harris. He had a good hole to the left for a big gain, then cut back past the final defender on his way to the end zone.

Chris Vannini, The Athletic — Eight players ejected in ECU-NC State Military Bowl after brawl leaves official bleeding

Eight players were ejected and an official was bleeding from a cut on his face following a late scuffle between East Carolina and NC State in Saturday’s Military Bowl, which the Pirates won 26-21.

During the altercation, an ECU player shoved an NC State player from behind, and the NC State player’s helmet hit the ref in the face, causing the cut. The official, umpire Rod Tucker, used a towel to wipe himself off, and a team trainer looked at him.

The drama around the game’s in-state matchup built in the weeks leading up to the contest, as the teams and their fan bases traded barbs. ECU fans have long felt disrespected by the state of North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast Conference schools and have seized upon the infrequency with which those schools have scheduled the Pirates since ECU won six straight games against ACC opponents from 2013 to 2016, including two victories each against NC State and North Carolina. NC State and East Carolina have played four times in the last seven seasons and will open the 2025 season against each other in Raleigh.